Winnipeggers taking advantage of the weather and the real estate market

 

Balmy summer weather certainly added a warm glow to the local real estate market, with September transactions being the best for the month in the 108-year history of WinnipegREALTORS®.
“We didn’t miss a beat in September as the market continued to pick up from where it left off in August,” said WinnipegREALTORS® president Ralph Fyfe.
“New listings increased over September last year, and home buyers last month responded to the greater selection of homes on the market.”
In fact, the momentum means that September had the third consecutive month of 1,200-plus MLS® sales. And, dollar volume sales eclipsed the September 2010 record by $30 million, rising to $278 million.
“Winnipeggers are optimistic about what is happening in our city,” said Fyfe. “The new NHL Jets are set to take-off this weekend, and other exciting developments include an IKEA, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and a new airport opening at the end of the month.”
September MLS® sales increased by six per cent to 1,214 units, and year-to-date MLS® sales to the end of September were up by the same percentage to 10,410 units when compared to the same period last year.
Two out of every three of the 15,300 listings entered on the MLS® market this year have sold.
Fyfe said he expects the candidate signs for the October 4 election will soon be replaced by REALTOR® signs due to the strength of the local market.
Vacant lots and condominiums continue to be the best performing MLS® properties, and have risen 26 and 14 per cent, respectively, when compared to the same nine-month period in 2010. Year-to-date, residential-detached sales have risen by slightly less than five per cent.
With three months to go in the year, year-to-date MLS® dollar volume stood at over $2.4 billion by the end of last month, while MLS® sales of 10,400 matched the same pace as the best-ever year in 2007, which had over 13,000 MLS® sales by year-end.
In September, the most active price range for residential-detached homes was between $200,000 and $249,999 with 26 per cent of all sales.
Condo sales were dominant in the $150,000 to $199,999 with 39 per cent of all sales.
The pace of home sales across Canada indicates “home buyers are showing that they remain confident about the stability of the Canadian real estate market,” said Canadian Real Estate Association president Gary Morse, “and recognize that the continuation of low interest rates represents an excellent opportunity to buy their first home or trade up.”